Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that former Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected as the country's president after he outperformed outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo in the third round of voting.
4 candidates ran for a second round on Sunday to elect a new president for Somalia, as part of a vote by members of parliament in both houses, the people and the Senate, in light of strict security measures.
In the second round of voting, Farmajo, 60, received 82 votes, compared to 110 votes for his rival, Sheikh Mahmoud (67 years).
Anadolu Agency reported that the other two candidates, former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khair and President of Puntland State Saeed Abdullahi Deni, were disqualified from the electoral race after receiving fewer votes than Farmajo and Sheikh Mahmoud.
The voting session began earlier on Sunday, and was attended by 302 members, according to what was announced by Parliament Speaker Adam Madobe.
39 candidates registered to participate in the electoral race, but 3 of them withdrew their candidacy, according to what the head of the Presidential Elections Committee announced;
Thus, competition was limited to 36 candidates at the start of the voting session.
The Somali parliament consists of 329 members, and the winner is announced who obtains two-thirds of the votes of deputies in the first round.
In the event that none of the candidates obtains a percentage of two-thirds, the four candidates with the highest number of votes are selected for a second round, and possibly a third, in which the victory will be by a simple percentage.
The security services have imposed a curfew since nine o'clock on Saturday evening, to secure the electoral process that is taking place near Mogadishu International Airport, and calm prevails in the streets of the capital, and shops have closed their doors.
The presidential vote backed by the United Nations has been delayed for more than a year due to wrangling within the government, but it is necessary to hold the elections in May to ensure the continuation of the financing program for Somalia set by the International Monetary Fund, which amounts to 400 million dollars.